It’s time for another round of Ask Jbrary! I received an email from a librarian who is new to storytime and looking for advice. Here is the question:
Dear Jbrary,
How do you introduce new material (movement songs, rhymes etc.) that the group might not be familiar with? Especially looking for tips when you have very large groups up to 100+.
What advice would you give to this storytime leader? You can submit your answer in the form below or leave a comment on this post. I’ll aggregate all the suggestions and be back in a few weeks with a summary post that include my own suggestions.
I’m excited to see what everyone has to say!
I like to inform my audience that I am doing something that may be new to them. I also let them know if it is new to me. (sometimes, no matter how many times I practice, I still may mess up when sharing with them!). I have also printed out copies of rhymes or made an enlarged version to have up on my whiteboard so they can see the lyrics. Bonus if the new rhyme or song has a familiar tune! The bottom line is, I try to share with them that it is okay to try something new and we might do the new thing 2 or 3 times to help them learn it.
Great way
When I do something new, I always talk through it first. Like if I do a new movement song, I say “in this song, we will jump, walk, run, hop, and tiptoe” and I demonstrate each one quickly. If it is a new rhyme or short song that I am doing, I’ll maybe talk through it – “okay, can everyone pretend your finger is a caterpillar? can you crawl your caterpillar?” and then we will do it once and then again. I regularly have crowds of over 100, also!
First, I tell the group it’s a song we’re going to learn together, and then I sing and do the movement once before breaking it down into parts. I speak and do the motions to one line at a time, then sing the line as we do it again. Repeat the process for each line and do the whole thing together. Your temp will need to be slowed down a few times until everyone gets the song. I give a lot of praise when they get little parts right and have them clap for themselves when they have completely learned and performed the song or fingerplay.
Repetition repetition repetition. If we’re doing something new, I carve out enough space in the storytime to do the new song or rhyme three or four times over. I’ll teach it line by line, then we’ll sing it through until it becomes familiar. If it’s a success, I’ll make sure to do it again next week. If not, I’ll either present it differently next week or scrap it and move on.
My tips:
– Plan to do that rhyme, song, etc. every single week for several months and don’t be deterred by lack of engagement the first couple times. We choose songs because we really believe our audiences will learn to love them. We have to give them time to adapt.
– Be okay with being the only person singing, chanting, etc. as people warm up to the new thing. Your enthusiasm will endear the song to your families.
– Make sure the lyrics are easily visible on a screen or a handout to take home.
This is all great advice, Julie! One of the hardest lessons for me in my first couple years of Storytimes was coming to terms with the fact that sometimes I’m singing at a room full of children who are just staring at me. Repetition is so good for them, and we have to be aware of the fact that they won’t engage right away, either due to disposition or the fact that it might take a while for them to learn.
If you love the songs or rhymes, and perform them with confidence, your groups will learn and love them as well.
I’ve begun making visuals that I put up on the white board that show what movement/action is next. I will talk through each one, demonstrate, and sing through it so they have it. I also print out lyrics on 11×17 paper in big font and tape that on the wall opposite so that I can see them and be facing the group. Or I use index cards with lyrics and actions that I can hold in my hand while participating with the kiddos.
For new songs and rhymes we’ll use the large poster-size sticky notes or our whiteboard to write up the lyrics. We make sure to let the grownups know if the new song is based on a familiar melody and we’ll repeat it a few times at the storytime and then again at later ones. I love introducing new songs with multiple verses so that by verse three, many of the grownups have figured out the pattern and can sing or hum along. Our storytimes are capped at 70 people (except for special holiday events *cough*Halloween*cough*) and that helps a lot.
Movement is similar repetition. We’ll do the same new movement activity 2-3 times at minimum.
I think the larger groups are actually more forgiving for the new material because if you have a small group it’s very obvious when people aren’t participating or catching on. But in a large group if I can get 10 adults joining in on something new, well I’ve won.
When we do story times for large groups like this, we are often in our large meeting room and can use the screen and projector that are permanently mounted in that room. (Sadly, outside story times are out of luck!)
We have started to use the screen and projector for bullet points of our regular opening and closing announcements:
* please participate and avoid side conversations (LOL!)
* no food in story time (bottles and water are fine)
* emergency evacuation and bathroom info
* sign up for 1000 books before K
* etc.
Since we are using the screen and projector already, we decided to make additional slides with the words to rhymes and songs. You can even animate it to show one line at a time if you have a clicker!
First, I like to let the families know I have a new song or rhyme to share with them. I’ll teach it to them by going over the words or motions together. Then, we’ll sing or do the rhyme at a normal pace so they can see how fun it is. After that, we do it a bit slower, just to really get everyone comfortable. If it looks like everyone is having a good time and picking it up quickly, we’ll go back to the original pace or even faster. The literacy tip I like to share is that repetition is a great way for children to learn new skills!
Take your time. Introduce it, walk them through it, then do it together. I don’t think it’s something that should be overly stressful. I often lead with the line “We’ll do this three times. First to learn, then to practice, and finally to show what we know.” Not everything is short/simple enough to do all the way through three times, but this has helped me encourage my audience to let me take things slow and is a good introduction to how the learning process works.
We use our projector and include lyrics for songs and words for fingerplays and activities. Adults are very engaged. It works for us, but I do understand that not everyone has access to something like this.
I am close to retirement and no longer in charge of the story time at our library, but the one we have has grown so large that we would be happy to hear how others handle groups as large as 80 or 90 when you add in the parents. Right now we usually have lots of movement with songs, but listening to stories can be difficult for the little ones.
I am in charge of a toddler program that has been averaging 100 people (adults and children). Due to the massive crowd, we are moving from one session to two back-to-back 30-minute sessions.
I’m sure families chime in with songs and movement, but I totally understand how reading to such a big group can be a challenge. To manage this, I incorporated an adult/child lap-sit reading activity vs. me reading to the crowd. I know it can be “unconventional” in a story time setting, but it works. I set aside a 10-minute chunk of time in my program for this. I begin with my announcement with instructions. I’ll usually set out 3 baskets full of books and have children pick a story, then go back to their adult’s lap to read together. This gives adults the opportunity to “practice” lap sit reading, and children get used to the routine of finding a good book they’d like to read and going back to their adult for shared reading. Suddenly, you have a full room of families engaged in reading. It’s beautiful! LOL
I often introduce new songs or fingerplays. I believe that 3 is the magic number. I always repeat my finger plays 3 times. And then I’ll try to do any new material like that the following week as well. Sometimes I’ll go slow the first round or have them repeat after me. But usually they pick up on it pretty quick.